Earlier on in the school year, multiple Vienna restaurants were forced to close. Some of the most notable recent closures include “Noodles & Company” and “Cold Stone,” both located in the shopping center on the corner of Maple Avenue and Park Street. Noodles and Company closed on January 24, 2024 and Cold Stone closed on August 31, 2023.
These restaurants were well loved by Vienna residents, which caused many to be surprised to hear that they had closed.
“Although I do regret the fact that they will be closing, it allows for new shops and businesses to enter, which is exciting for me,” Max Chan (’26) said.
As these restaurants closed, a new question arose: what will replace these restaurants? Residents of Vienna now know the answer to that question, with “Call Your Mother Deli” and “Duck Donuts” opening in the upcoming months. “Call Your Mother Bagel Deli” is a very popular bagel shop in Washington DC, and Duck Donuts is a popular donut chain on the east coast.
These new additions to the Vienna restaurant lineup are very exciting, but some students are looking forward to one more than the other.
“I’m looking forward to ‘Duck Donuts’ more than ‘Call Your Mother Deli’ because there are a lot of bakeries in Vienna that already sell bagels, but there aren’t as many donut shops in the area,” Erin Lo (’26) said.
Even though these new restaurants are an exciting change for Vienna, the now closed restaurants will be missed by many.
“Cold Stone creamery was always my favorite spot to get ice cream,” Elise Sharma (’26) said. “I would always go get some whenever I celebrated anything. Bruster’s is still okay, but I just miss having another option. For Noodles & Company, I don’t particularly have an opinion since there’s another one right down the street from me.”
With the closure of restaurants comes a debate: are the new restaurants replacing the now closed restaurants going to be on par if not better?
“I like both of the now closed restaurants more than the new restaurants because I think both of the now closed restaurants are simply better,” Akhil Chada (’26) said.